gamezplay

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Family Ski and Snowboard video game on Nintendo Wii

Snowboarding Tempt Snow Sports Game Fans to the Slopes for a Whole New Wintry World of Fun Exclusively on Wii

Wii gamers are dreaming of virgin snow and the dazzling winter sun with the news that NAMCO BANDAI Games’ Family Ski & Snowboard, the sequel to the much-loved snow sports game for Wii, will make its wintry way into European homes this coming February 2009.

Amongst the abundance of gameplay advances jostling for space on the slopes in this latest instalment of the Wii Balance Board standout series are all-new high performance snowboarding, enhanced skiing functionality, two statuesque new mountains to conquer and an additional 10,000 vertical metres to hurtle down. There’s big, big air to be grabbed by skiers and snowboarders alike with fun boxes, rails and a half-pipe all throwing down the thermal gauntlet to players as they test their skills to pull off an array of wild aerial tricks.

Family Ski & Snowboard takes players on a wintry thrill ride through a multitude of different environments on the imposing Mt. Angrio and cool Jamboree Snow Resort. Take the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers in hand to enjoy the classic motion-based controls popularized by Family Ski, while the addition of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board brings an even greater level of realism to the fun.

Custom characters and player Mii’s add another dimension as the player kicks up powder on adventures across the vast free-riding areas boasting even more mountain terrain than ever. Hopping on the chairlift for a ride to the summit ensures a breathtaking view, while heli-drops from vertigo-inducing heights give players the chance to shred down vertical cliffs and sheer precipices. And don’t forget to watch out for avalanches!

Hot Doggers can quench their thirst for thrills with half-pipe courses, and ski technique challenges, while those looking for a more leisurely time on the piste can indulge in other activities including ski school, board school, moguls, slaloms, and even animal search and rescue. The day, night and dusk skiing across the sprawling vistas offer endless variations on the whole snowy experience.

When it comes to getting the family involved there’s four player fun in fast-paced racing action or free-skiing, while solo players can enjoy the ride with up to three AI-controlled skiing buddies for company.

Sam & Max - Season Two on PC and Nintendo Wii

Sam & Max to retail stores worldwide with PC and Nintendo Wii versions of the duo's most recent escapades, Sam & Max Season Two. Everyone’s favourite freelance police are back for more of the surreal stories and offbeat laughs that make the Sam & Max games series one-of-a-kind. Currently available as episodic downloads for PC only, publisher Atari is bringing Sam & Max Season Two to retailers worldwide for PC and Wii in 2009.

Sam and Max are on the job again in the critically acclaimed Sam & Max Season Two brimming with crime-fighting adventure and chaos. Structured like a TV season, each of the five episodes has its own self-contained plot while together they form part of a season-long mystery. Like the best TV series, Sam & Max Season Two draws the player in with great characters and multiple intertwined plot lines, building to a high stakes climax in the season finale.

The crazed journey begins with a giant robot attack and never lets up, taking the crime-fighters on a series of wild missions boasting twisted storylines and engaging gameplay with their own unique brand of justice that takes them from frozen arctic regions to the fiery opposite end of the spectrum.

As with DVD box sets of popular TV series, bringing the game to retail lets its creators reach a new audience of gamers who otherwise might have led a life deprived of the joy only Sam & Max can bring. Sam & Max Season Two for Wii and PC is the first time this release has been localised, with full French and German versions available on the disk along with Spanish and Italian subtitles, so international fans can enjoy the fun in their mother tongue.

Created by Steve Purcell, Sam & Max first got their start in the indie comic book scene in the 1980s and the duo have since become a well-loved phenomenon in both the comic scene and with the brilliantly addictive and entertaining video games.

About Sam & Max

Sam is a six-foot dog in a baggy suit sporting a trombone-sized .44 hand-cannon. Max is a three foot "rabbity thing" with a saw blade grin and the impulsive nature of the average piranha. Together they patrol the sticky streets of a fantastical New York City, righting wrongs, pummelling perps, and ridding the urban landscape of the shifty legions of "self-propelled gutter trash" that litter their streets. Sam & Max have appeared in comics, video games, an animated TV series recently reissued on DVD, and an Eisner award-winning webcomic.

Family Trainer on Nintendo Wii - Fact Sheet

Family Trainer lets all the family and friends get physical by engaging the whole body in a variety of easy-to-understand, fast-paced and wildly entertaining activities. The game includes the specially designed Family Trainer mat controller which, when combined with the Wii Remote, lets players get totally physical in a series of crazed challenges. Unlike other games for the Wii which only focus on the arms, Family Trainer gets the feet involved too for total body gameplay. Simple controls and intuitive play make the game easy to just pick up and play, and let players of any age get involved, get physical and have maximum fun.

FEATURES:

• Total body gameplay: using a specially designed Family Trainer mat (Included with the game) and the Nintendo Wii Remote, Family Trainer’s gameplay gets your whole body moving;
• Intuitive and fun: simple controls and fun presentations means that anyone of any age can get involved and have fun;
• 16 frantic single and multiplayer challenges: outdoor challenges are amusingly interpreted for the world of Family Trainer, such as river rafting, mine karting, log jumping, rope skipping and much more. The player can also customize challenges to suit their own style of play;
• Variety of locations: activities take place in a variety of colourful environments including jungle forests full of ancient ruins, and a fairytale world with canoes and boats;
• Fun for one player: track your progress and set new records for friends and family to beat. High scores and records are saved in a ranking format for each stage in single player mode;
• Multiplayer on one mat: challenge friends or family members on the same mat in battle mode, or cooperate together in team mode, for example trying to balance a runaway mine kart as it hurtles round a gravity defying track. Players can also check their compatibility with each other to know if they’ve got the right partner to beat the challenges!
• Supports Mii characters: use your original Mii character in the game.

Title: Family Trainer
Platform: Wii
Release Date: September 2008
Publisher: NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe SAS
Developer: NAMCO BANDAI Games
Category: Sports

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Namco Bandai bring Tekken 6 to PS3 and Xbox 360 in Europe

The Next Feverishly Anticipated Instalment in the Pre-eminent Fighting Franchise Comes to Europe in Autumn 2009 for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3

Ultimate fighting franchise TEKKEN 6, scheduled for release in Europe through its distribution partnership with Infogrames Entertainment in autumn 2009 for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system.

Developed by NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc., TEKKEN 6 brings the blockbuster fighting series onto multiple platforms for the first time in the history of the TEKKEN franchise. TEKKEN sets the standard for fighting games with its stunning realism and uncompromising quality, and TEKKEN 6 promises to propel the series to greater heights with major gameplay enhancements and the largest character roster ever seen in the TEKKEN series.

Rendered in vivid high definition detail, TEKKEN 6 heralds the dawn of a new era as a new King of the Iron Fist Tournament opens for business, with intense gameplay modes, new features and environments that guarantee blistering fight action, lightning-paced brawls and bone-crunching punch-ups.

TEKKEN 6 sees the return of many familiar faces while also introducing a host of new characters resulting in the largest line-up the series has ever seen. Each fighter is equipped with their own deadly techniques, moves and attack combinations to make TEKKEN 6 the most challenging King of the Iron Fist Tournament yet. A character customization feature will further intensify the fighting action and multiplayer gameplay modes let players take their fighters online to compete for world domination.

Boasting an illustrious 14 year legacy, TEKKEN is among the most popular and well-known gaming brands in the world with the entire franchise selling more than 33 million units to date. TEKKEN 6 is a must-have for any fan of console arcade fighting.

The Witcher - Rise of the White Wolf on PS3 and Xbox

Award Winning, Million-selling Role-playing Franchise Coming to Consoles with Thrilling New Dynamic Combat, State of the Art Visuals.

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf on PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in autumn 2009.

Based on the story of multi award-winning million-selling PC role-playing game The Witcher and completely rebuilt pixel by pixel for the new generation of consoles, The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf brings the unrivalled RPG experience to Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 with a brand new combat system for thrilling dynamic action, and a new engine delivering matchless state-of-the-art visuals. The game is underpinned with the evocative and enthralling story which helped secure the original game’s status as PC role-playing game of 2007, based on the mature and compelling universe created by renowned Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski.

“The creative vision and dedication to the quality of the player experience that CD Projekt RED bring to the Witcher games is extraordinary, and it’s great to be working with them to bring the Witcher universe to console gamers,” said Phil Harrison, President of Infogrames Entertainment, the parent company of Atari. “Taking this brilliantly realised world to PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 gamers for the first time is a breakthrough in the development of this important franchise.”

“We’re thrilled to continue our great relationship with Atari, whose refreshing focus on quality fits squarely with our own, to bring Geralt and the Witcher franchise to an even larger audience – fans who expressed to us very clearly that The Witcher would be a natural fit on consoles,” said Adam Kicinski, CEO, CD Projekt RED. “Console gamers’ tastes are maturing; they’re looking for deeper story-driven experiences that are very hard to find in today’s console market. We’re developing this remake based upon the compelling narrative that helped The Witcher on PC sell more than a million copies and win more than 100 awards, building everything else from the ground up to be the definitive console RPG.”

Based on the universe created by best-selling Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf puts players in the role of Geralt, a professional monster slayer who exists on the fringes of a complex society troubled by the kind of problems more commonly found on the front pages of newspapers than in a fantasy universe. Taken as a child, mutated, and trained in the arcane ways of the witchers, Geralt is a reluctant hero, who nonetheless finds himself all too frequently in the heat of battles that are not his own. In this world there is no right or wrong, only decisions and consequences.

With The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, the best PC RPG in recent years is being completely remade as the ultimate console RPG. The title is being developed by a core team from CD Projekt RED working alongside France-based Widescreen Games who provide their cross-platform DaVinci engine technology.

Ready 2 Rumble - Gloves off on Nintendo Wii

The Best-Selling Boxing Franchise Returns with a Huge Roster of Celebrity-inspired Fighters Looking to Land the KO Punch in Spring 2009

The hilarious Ready 2 Rumble franchise is flexing its muscles and planning a major, star-studded return to the ring in spring 2009 with the launch of Ready 2 Rumble Revolution, the newest game in the much-loved series. Bringing the franchise to Wii for the first time, the game retains all the knockout features of best-sellers Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 1 and Round 2, while delivering a knockout punch of style and attitude. Tailored to take advantage of the motion-controlled realism of Wii, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution makes landing a punch more fun than ever.

“Ready 2 Rumble Revolution is poised to take back the title as the undisputed champion of arcade boxing games and we hope to reach an even bigger audience than ever thanks to the huge popularity of Wii,” said Phil Harrison, President of Infogrames, the parent company of Atari. “The outrageous celebrity caricatures paired with a fun boxing experience made even more over-the-top thanks to the Wii controllers will make the newest version of this famed franchise a must-have for all fans of boxing and physical fun on Wii.”

“Ready 2 Rumble Revolution will put the swagger back into the boxing ring and promote an adrenaline-boosting, positive will to win attitude in the hearts and minds of fans of all ages,” said Gaspard de Dreuzy, President of Stereo Mode and executive producer of the game.

Sure to satisfy newcomers and boxing fans alike, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution features a roster of 18 wildly caricatured cartoony boxers, all parodies of celebrities from the worlds of sports, music and movies who enter the ring as larger-than-life “Rumble-ized” versions of themselves. Players will step right up and see if they can knock these super-sized egos down a peg or two!

The game is hosted by “The Voice of the Champions” Michael Buffer, famous for his “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” trademark call. Characters are brought to life with hilarious moves, detailed facial animations, damage textures and fighting techniques including special moves, combos, extreme knockdowns and special “Rumble” combos. An all new Championship Mode lets gamers create their own unique boxer and nurture his skills through mini-games, developing him as a fighter and creating a completely personalized Ready 2 Rumble Revolution experience.

Developed by AKI who bring their formidable fight game know-how to the franchise, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution brings a virtual boxing arena to the living room and delivers a fun and intuitive experience in either single player or multiplayer mode. The Wii controllers provide would-be pugilists with an intuitive and realistic feel. Using the Nunchuk controller as one glove and the Wii Remote controller as the other, players dodge, weave and throw the big punches to KO their opponents.

Virtual heavyweights can fight from the backstreet gym all the way to the big Las Vegas showdown with vivid new visuals bringing the five spectacular ring environments to life. The arcade experience is made even better thanks to advanced Artificial Intelligence allowing more strategic fights.

Interpol hidden object spy game for Xbox Live Arcade

Formerly top-secret Interpol game is in development for Xbox LIVE Arcade. This all new adventure, developed by TikGames and published by Microsoft, is slated for release on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system this winter, offering gamers the heat of a high-stakes criminal chase for a cool 800 Microsoft points.

In Interpol, players track down the evil and destructive fugitive Dr. Chaos by seeking out hidden clues in exotic locales around the world. In single-player campaign, use your keen investigative skills to quickly gather the evidence needed to bring him and his criminal accomplices to justice.

Or, join forces with up to three other friends in local or Xbox LIVE cooperative play to put them behind bars together. Only your keen eyes and investigative skills stand between the world and Dr. Chaos's evil schemes - use them wisely!

"Finally, gamers have the opportunity to play a hidden object game via Xbox LIVE Arcade and cooperate with other crime-fighting agents globally," said TikGames' CEO Anatoly Tikhman. "We're very excited to be the first to bring this highly-engaging genre to the platform and fully expect worldwide crime rates to plummet on launch day in response."

New Island (Big Surf Island) for Burnout but not for free

This first shot shows your arrival point on the island. From here, you can make out the awesome cylindrical tower referred to in this Crash TV Episode 15. With the right car, it’s possible to drift all the way to the top of this tower and back again. But you’re unlikely to drive down, because this location is all about massive jumps. For a while, we considered naming it Big Air Island!

The building to the right is the hotel we named after one of our die-hard fans. DBC9MX earned the right name the hotel after winning the Downtown Showtime Showdown competition and chose to name it after his son – Taylor J. You check out the footage in Crash TV

This second shot is the first time we’ve shown you the view looking back down from the island towards the bridge and mainland Paradise City. Our mantra is ‘if you can see it, you can drive it’ – which means that even the bridge to the city features multiple levels and massive jumps.

The construction yard in the foreground is loaded with gameplay and the scaffold at the top features in one of the island’s most memorable pieces of gameplay. Everywhere on the island is like this.

This third image is the first look at the other side of the island, featuring the palm trees that give it a distinctly tropical flavour. The unusual shape of the lighthouse, and the massive ramp in front of it are more tell-tale signs that the geometry is more than just scenery.

And finally, here’s our favourite shot.

This shows the kind of action the island is built for. The scaffold towers in the construction yard can be climbed and all the hoops can be jumped. If you want a taste of what the island is all about, head for the airfield, quarry or beach in Burnout Paradise right now and imagine an area the size of Downtown dedicated to that kind of gameplay. The car featured here is the Dust Storm. It will be made available at the same time as the island.

We’d mentioned in a previous podcast that this would be free content, but we can now confirm that it will be premium paid-for content.

Here’s why. We never expected to create anything this ambitious for the island, but as it progressed we got more and more excited about what it could become. (In fact, that’s the story of all our Downloadable Content.)

Big Surf is the culmination of everything we learned creating Paradise City, and we want it to bring you a truly spectacular new experience – the highlight of a year of incredible premium content. Burnout already delivers incredible value for money – literally hundreds of hours of gameplay with your original disk or PSN purchase, plus more with the free Cagney Pack and free Burnout Paradise Bikes.

We want Burnout Paradise players to experience the greatest support ever seen in a console game. We’re transforming not just Burnout Paradise, but the whole Burnout franchise through DLC, and we appreciate the support we know you guys will give us for our paid content. We think it’s worth it.

Next week, we’ll bring you the first of our “Paradise City Boroughs” guides - Downtown Paradise. We’ll cover the whole of Paradise City borough-by-borough in some detail, culminating in a big reveal of the island in the new year.

From the official website here...

Uncharted 2 - Among Thieves revealed in video

Sony has lifted the lid on the sequel to its PS3 action-adventure, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, via a trailer and a Game Informer magazine cover.

Uncharted 2 - Among Thieves "revolves around the 13th century explorer Marco Polo and his voyages", according to Game Informer's teaser.

The magazine also says that "free climbing" and stealth will be the major gameplay additions to the third-person adventure from the Jak & Daxter developer, Naughty Dog.

A short teaser trailer has also been released, showing hero Nathan Drake struggling through a snowy landscape to retrieve some kind of ancient artefact. Going by this and the cover, Uncharted 2 will swap the first game's steamy jungle for a cold, mountainous setting.

We can expect more detail when Among Thieves gets its "world premiere" a week on Sunday - December 14th - at the 2008 Video Game Awards.

Watch the trailer here (click on MEDIA heading)...

Source: Eurogamer

Wii make six dollars profit on every Nintendo Wii...

Nintendo makes a profit of 6 dollars on every Nintendo Wii they sell.

While Sony makes a loss on each PlayStation 3 and Microsoft may break even with the Xbox 360, Nintendo makes a profit.

The Nintendo Wii is expected to sell more software than any other games console this year, with a target of 220 million units, compared with 120 million for PlayStation 3 games and 125 million for Xbox 360 titles.

Nintendo sells 60 per cent of Wii games itself, compared with 30 per cent for Microsoft and 15 per cent for Sony.

Part of this success is placed upon Nintendo's practice of keeping price down, with the console itself retailing for around USD 250, compared to the PlayStation 3 at around USD 400, while Nintendo Wii games are priced around USD 50 rather than USD 60 on the other two consoles.

"The key thing about Nintendo is they want their things to be at price points that anyone can respond to."

Source: GamesIndustry

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